Abstract
Objectives: This study was performed to compare the bacterial and candidal growth in patients wearing maxillary obturators constructed from conventional heat polymerized acrylic resin versus obturators constructed from thermoplastic resin.
Materials and methods: Ten patients were selected with acquired maxillary defects and received two obturators; one was made from conventional heat cured acrylic resin (Group I) and the other was constructed from thermoplastic resin (Group II). The patients were asked to wear every obturator for four weeks followed by a two-week gap before they start wearing the second obturator. At the time of delivery, a swab sample was collected from the mucosa of the defect using a sterile cotton swab to evaluate normal bacterial and candida counts (base line). Another sample was collected from the oral mucosa as well as the fitting bulb of the obturator after one month of insertion.
Results: The conventional acrylic resin group showed higher bacterial and candidal counts than the thermoplastic resin group as well as higher percentages of bacterial and candidal growth.
Conclusion: thermoplastic resin proved to be a good material from the biological aspect for the construction of maxillary obturators for some selected cases.